Patriots LB Making Major Impact On and Off Field
The New England Patriots defense is leading the league in sacks after the first two weeks of the season and a big reason behind that is new linebacker Harold Landry III.
Landry, 29, has eight years of NFL experience under his belt with the Tennessee Titans after they chose him in the second round out of Boston College the same year Mike Vrabel became the franchise's head coach. Vrabel was a big reason why Landry signed with the Pats and he is excited to have him on board.
“A very consistent player. I think he has a very consistent routine. I’ve known Harold for a long time. I’m excited that the players voted him captain," Vrabel said in an interview with WEEI.
"This is his first time being a captain. He has shown that when he got here, that was important to him was to lead. He’s always a versatile player. We put a lot on his plate. Anything that is a game plan-specific type thing for that position, we have a tendency to put it on Harold because he’ll understand. He’ll be able to get it quickly in a few days of practice. We’re going to need him and everybody else to continue to play well and try to help us and get some consistency going.”
Landry has 3.5 of the team's nine sacks so far this season. He is tied for the league lead in sacks along with Cleveland Browns star Myles Garrett and New Orleans Saints defensive end Carl Granderson.
That's good company to be with and the Patriots are happy that Landry is contributing for them instead of the Titans or another team. He is setting the tone for the defense and making an impact both on and off the field.
If Landry continues to be a leader for the Patriots, it will only help their chances of pulling out victories as the season goes along. They will need him to continue his strong start in Week 3 against the Pittsburgh Steelers, where he will be tasked with taking down quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
Alex Bregman Boldly Declares Red Sox's Playoff Intentions For Rivals To Hear
The Boston Red Sox are not shying away from the pressure of the postseason -- if they can even get there.
Thanks to a much-needed 11-7 win over the Tampa Bay Rays on Friday, the Red Sox stayed 1 1/2 games clear of the surging Cleveland Guardians in the American League wild card standings. With eight games to play, Fangraphs estimates the Red Sox's chances of a playoff berth to be 88.1%.
The best sign of all in that clutch win over the Rays may well have been third baseman Alex Bregman's home run. Bregman entered Friday as one of the coldest hitters in all of baseball, with a .157 batting average in his previous 22 games.
Alex Bregman on playoff mentality
Bregman is well aware that his and his team's recent struggles have made it no longer a foregone conclusion that Boston is still dancing come playoff time. But he also isn't heaping too much pressure on these last eight games -- only because he doesn't think making the playoffs should be the team's biggest goal.
“I feel like the mentality here is we don't want to just get into the playoffs. We want to play well in the playoffs and go play for another month,” said Bregman, per Ian Browne of MLB.com.
“So for us, I feel like getting back to playing our best brand of baseball on a consistent basis is super important. So that's why I feel like the last few days (of struggling) could be good for us. We can learn a lot from it. And I feel like this team is ready to roll."
If there's anyone on the Red Sox's roster the players want to take cues from at this time of year, it's Bregman. He's never missed the playoffs in his first eight major league seasons -- with 99 career postseason games under his belt, he's got more than double the postseason experience of any other player on the roster.
And projecting a message of confidence and high expectations certainly can't hurt when it comes to sizing up potential AL postseason opponents.
Perhaps expecting bigger and better things will help the Red Sox continue to play loose over these last eight games, as they did at long last on Friday night.
